Applications of Cannabis

Table of Contents

What’s more controversial than the use of the Cannabis plant! It’s the most commonly grown, trafficked, and abused illicit drug worldwide. Moreover, the plant is also used to produce certain industrial products including ropes, and fabrics.

Introduction

What’s more controversial than the use of the Cannabis plant! It’s the most commonly grown, trafficked, and abused illicit drug worldwide. Moreover, the plant is also used to produce certain industrial products including ropes, and fabrics.

Approximately 147 million people around the world consume marijuana on an annual basis (or nearly 2.5% of the overall population) according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report.

Apart from its abusive use, cannabis has a long history of use as a medicinal plant to treat several disease conditions. However, the treatments are associated with certain complexities, including:

• There are legal, ethical, and societal implications associated with its use.
• Dispensing, packaging, and administration of medications safely
• Marijuana-related adverse health consequences and deaths due to its intoxication
• Limited clinical evidence for therapeutic indications

The use of Cannabis as a medicinal plant has a long history. Its use can be traced back to 5,000 years back in Romania. However, In the U.S. it was removed from being a licensed medicine, in 1937, by American Medical Association. In 1996, California paved the way for the medicinal use of Cannabis by legalizing it, followed by 28 states and the District of Columbia by 2016.

Now, you might wonder what diseases can Cannabis cure! Well, a number of them. Though, it’s still ongoing research and debatable area. However, its clinical effects are no more in a grounded state and they are being tested in a highly controlled manner and with regulations, for treating several diseases.

But, how effective and validated the treatments are, you will learn in this article. Additionally, you will also get a glimpse of the uses of the fibers of the plant to manufacture products for daily life use.

Industrial Uses of Cannabis

Cannabis sativa contains bast fibers, which is different from other cannabis plants. They are obtained from plants after a long process. The stalks are retted, dried, and crushed. The fibers are then released from the wood portion of the stem after they have been shaken free of the wood. Approximately 5.8 feet of fiber can be produced by each plant.

These fibers can be used to manufacture artificial sponges, fabrics, bioplastics, twine, yarn, burlap and canvas, rope, cable, and string.

Oil extracted from Cannabis is also used to make different types of paints and varnishes.

Medicinal Uses of Cannabis

There are fewer studies currently present that claim and validate the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes. It’s not clear whether it outweighs any benefits. And, the regulatory controls and restrictions on the plants have limited their free availability for even research purposes. That’s why no other advanced techniques have also been developed to grow plants on a commercial scale.

In Colorado and Oregon Cannabis is most commonly used for pain, spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis, nausea, posttraumatic stress disorder, cancer, epilepsy, cachexia, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, and degenerative neurological conditions.

Below is a review on the application of Cannabis in the mentioned diseases according to some quality systemic reviews and quality articles.

Nausea and Vomiting

Cannabinoids-based medicines, like nabilone and dronabinol, were approved in 1985 for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. It was specially given to patients who failed to effectively respond to conventional antiemetic treatments.

Now it’s been more than 30 years for the use of nabilone and dronabinol for the treatment of nausea and vomiting. However, still, no good-quality randomized trials have been conducted examining this option. So, this can be a future research priority to explore the option and test the efficacy of cannabidiol or cannabidiol-enriched cannabis in controlling chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.

Cancer

It’s one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. And, there’re some pieces of evidence that suggest the role of cannabinoids in cancer regulation. However, the pieces of evidence are insufficient. But, multiple preclinical kinds of literature indicate the need of conducting clinical studies using cannabinoids.

Weight Loss and Anorexia

There’s only limited evidence available in support of weight gain in patients with HIV-associated wasting syndrome and anorexia nervosa. And, insufficient evidence is available which says that cannabinoids are an effective treatment for cancer-associated anorexia-cachexia syndrome and anorexia nervosa. There’s a need for randomized controlled trials to study the effect of cannabinoids in treating the health issue.

Chronic Pain

Cannabis product nabiximols is widely taken by a number of patients for pain purposes outside the U.S. However, the drug is not approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA). There’s only substantial evidence in support of Cannabis as an effective treatment. There’s very little known about its effective doses, administration routes, efficacy, and side effects. More research is required n a variety of forms, administration routes, and cannabinoid combinations.

Adverse effects

There are several side effects of Cannabis consumption, including anxiety, paranoia, sleepiness, dizziness, confusion, decreased blood pressure, delusion, and impaired cognition. And, it’s long-term risks include loss of concentration, memory, lowered IQ, diminished decision-making abilities, and bronchitis.

Propagation Techniques For Cannabis Application Purposes

The conventional techniques to grow Cannabis is through stem cuttings or using seeds. However, there are several disadvantages associated with the technique, including:

• Genetic instability
• Requirement of a longer period for plant maturity
• Less reproducibility
• Prone to diseases and infections

Therefore, tissue culture as an advanced technique was tried to boost the production of the plant. The technique provides several advantages over the conventional techniques, such as:

• High multiplication rate
• Production of disease-free plants
• Less/no variation
• Selective cloning

However, if you are a tissue culture beginner you might face several challenges while trying the plant into tissue culture. Tissue culture needs a lot of practice to begin producing plants at a commercial scale with high efficacy and reproducibility.

But, this can be made easy by opting for Plant Cell Technology’s Cannabis consulting services! PCT provides a range of services related to cannabis tissue culture, including micropropagation, media preparation, training staff in tissue culture, cryopreservation, pathogen remediation, and gender and pathogen screening.

Even if you are an established culturist, facing the challenges associated with contamination, which can either be HpLVD, bacterial, or fungal infections, PCT Cannabis Consultation got you covered! We provide on-site consulting and help you with your challenges while educating you during the whole process.

This is the most affordable and effective consulting service for cannabis tissue culture enthusiasts, which they can ever get. So, book your call now and accelerate your plant production processes!

Happy Culturing!